Five years ago: By a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a key provision of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, saying that rape victims could not sue their attackers in federal court. United Press International was sold to the parent company of The Washington Times.

One year ago: A 40-ton steel girder dropped from a freeway overpass construction site into morning traffic in Golden, Colo., crushing one car and killing a family of three. Col. Robert Morgan, commander of the famed Memphis Belle B-17 bomber that flew combat missions over Europe during World War II, died in Asheville, N.C., at age 85. Kentucky Derby winner “Smarty Jones” posted a record 11½-length victory in the Preakness (however, the horse did not go on to win the Belmont Stakes).